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San-gwo Thum
Classification and Dialects Phonology Consonants *The phonemes /l/ and /ɾ/ are considered allophones Vowels *The phoneme /ɻ/ is recognised both as a consonant and a vowel Tones There are 9 basic tones in San-gwo Thum: *Still tones: Low (˩), Middle (˧), and High (˥) *Rising tones: Low (˩˧), High (˧˥), and Low-high (˩˥) *Falling tones: High (˥˧), Low (˧˩), and High-low (˥˩) Each vowel must carry one of these tones. Syllables may also have compound tones, in which any of the two tones may be combined, provided that the end point of the first tone is the same as the start point of the second, and that they do not travel in the same direction (e.g. low rising + high rising). These may be carried by either lone vowels or diphthongs. This gives a total of 31 possible tones altogether. Phonotactics The syllable structure of San-gwo Thum is (C₁)(C₂)V(V)©, in which C₁ is any non-approximant consonant and C₂ is any approximant consonant. In (C₁)(C₂)VC syllables, single, non-/ɻ/ vowels carrying only a basic tone become shortened, if the final consonant is not /n/. The vowels of syllables that end with /n/ become nasalised, with the /n/ not being pronounced. Voiced plosive consonants are not released at the ends of syllables. Writing System San-gwo Thum is written using an abaguida from left to right. Vowels are first adjoined to the preceeding consonant, while tones are adjoined to their respective syllable units after addition of vowels and final consonants. When writing a syllable containing a diphthong, the first vowel is adjoined to the preceeding consonant, while the second is adjoined to the "silent" consonant. Tones are then adjoined to their respective vowel-consonant pairs. If a compound tone is to be used with a single vowel, the vowel is written as a diphthong containing two of the same vowel. Separate syllables of the same word are written with a small space between them, while separate words bear a larger space between them. Vowels and tones each take on multiple forms. Voiceless vowels are adjoined only to voiceless preceeding consonants, while voiced vowels are adjoined only to voiced preceeding consonants. The large form of vowels is used in cases where the vowel is the final phoneme of the syllable, while the small form is used when the vowel is followed by another phoneme within the syllable. Vowel ending tones are adjoined to syllables that end with vowels, while consonant ending tones are adjoined to those which end in consonants. When transcribed into the latin alphabet, syllables of the same word are written with hyphens (-) between them. Tones may either be ommited in latin transcription, or symbolised using the numbers 1-9, symbolising the tones low, middle, high, low rising, high rising, low-high rising, high falling, low falling, and high low falling respectively. For example, the name of the language could either be transcribed as San-gwo Thum or San7-gwo1 Thum1. Grammar Nouns Genders The vowels of San-gwo Thum fall into 4 gender categories: masculine (nal2), feminine (til1-i5), third-gender (hij3-la1), and genderless (lik1). The genders of nouns pertain to their cultural significance, with masculine nouns being those items related to work, physical labour, or other physically exerting tasks, feminine nouns being related to care, maintenance, or other mentally exerting tasks, third-gender nouns being related to holy and spiritual practices and all things that transcend human significance, and genderless nouns which do not fit into the aformentioned categories. Loan words are often genderless. The table below shows the endings of nouns from each gender in the dictionary case. Verbs Syntax Lexicon Example text Category:Languages